Rating: 
Summary: First I will admit that I did not read the entire novel.
Review: Life is just too short to waste time reading a poorly written novel. The writing had no depth, the character interactions were shallow. The story just plodded along with the stilted gate of a robot. Crap, crap, crap and another heaping serving of crap. It was a struggle to read the first third of the book. I kept hoping maybe the next chapter would be better, possibly the next page. But it never got any better and I finally had to put the book down.
I had been a Patterson fan for a long time and religiously read every Alex Cross novel that he produced. But I have noticed a rapid decline in quality in his last couple of novels and frankly I think this will be the last Patterson novel that I will ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: A little rushed
Review: The premise is excellent, the characters intriguing, but the writing felt a little rushed. This is not the elegant prose of Patterson's earlier novels that completely drew you in and made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Unfortunately, this offering felt more like a first draft.
Rating: 
Summary: Best yet!
Review: I feel this is probably the best James Patterson book yet and I've read them all. From page one this book keeps you enthralled and on the edge of your seat. This book would make a great holiday gift for someone you love!
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT READ
Review: THIS BOOK IS GREAT. IT'S FAST PACED, AND YOU WON'T WANT TO PUT IT DOWN. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST ALEX CROSS BOOKS. I HEAVILY RECOMEND THIS BOOK TO EVERYONE.
Rating: 
Summary: exciting action packed police procedural
Review: A man and a woman abduct former Atlanta reporter Elizabeth Connolly from her home. The victim is the ninth in two years kidnapped by this team, who do little to hide the crime. Instead, the brazen duo takes the victim in public places with their horrified families as witnesses. Several homicides have been associated with this deadly team. The FBI believes that this notorious pair works for the Wolf of the Red Mafiya, Pasha Sorokin who sells the kidnapped people on a white slave commodity market.No longer with the Metro DC police force, the FBI assigns trainee Dr. Alex Cross to investigate the snatchings because the brass believe his unique approach to criminology is needed to break the case. Alex begins making the round picking up tips from his myriad of DC sources. The abductions and collateral murders continue as Alex gets closer to catching the felons, but soon a tip hits home that his family is now a target. THE BIG BAD WOLF is a well written exciting action packed police procedural that hooks the audience from the moment that Elizabeth is snatched in Buckhead's Phipps Plaza as she was already purchased by a client. Bringing student Alex to run the case in spite of his record with DC Metro seems hard to accept especially with the hard nosed agents basically bowing to his greater wisdom. Still once that stark leap is made, fans will enjoy Alex Cross, FBI Agent in Training battling the Wolf and his pack. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Way too shallow!
Review: After the total fiasco of The Lake House, I was looking forward to getting back to Alex Cross. However, this book was a disappointment. I read it in about 3 hours, and I'll never again buy one of Patterson's hardbacks. I'll wait for the paperback (second-hand at that) and save my money! This book was not as bad as The Lake House, but it wasn't all that good. Short, choppy sentences; lots of italics; no depth to the characters. I found myself skipping whole paragraphs; you can just read the first and last sentence in a chapter and pretty much know what's going on. I like books that "take me away" -- this book was one that I just wanted to get away from!
Rating:
Summary: A MUST read thriller!
Review: Across the country men and women are being kidnapped but not for ransom. The victims are carefully chosen and sold to the highest bidder. The FBI has no leads on this case until they bring in their newest recruit...Alex Cross. Cross knows there is more to this case than meets the eye and when a new discovery points him in the direction of the Wolf, a sadistic Russian killing machine, he realizes he is up against a mastermind of evil. As Cross races to find the missing victims an unexpected twist will send the case spiraling out of control, and to make matters worse Cross has to deal with his ex-fiancee Christine entering his life again with an agenda all her own. 'The Big Bad Wolf' is a guaranteed UP-ALL-NIGHT-PAGE TURNER! Alex Cross returns to top form in a rip-roaring thriller that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. Mixing unexpected plot twists with shocking surprises 'The Big Bad Wolf' will keep you glued to your chair until the final page has been turned. Once again James Patterson has written an unforgettable thriller that proves he is the best thriller writer alive! Expect to see this book dominate the top spot on all the bestseller list's as it will deserve it. A MUST read! Nick Gonnella
Rating:
Summary: The Big Bad Wolf blows the last two in this series away!
Review: Avid readers of James Patterson have been wondering lately if he'd lost his touch. The last two books in the Alex Cross series (Violets Are Blue and Four Blind Mice) were average at best, and some of his other works (The Jester and The Lake House) were downright atrocious. Fortunately, Patterson is back in true form with The Big Bad Wolf. At the end of Four Blind Mice, Cross left the Washington D.C. police department to pursue a career at the FBI. This is where we find him at the beginning of the book. Not long after his orientation, a major case begins brewing. Someone with ties to the Russian Mafia is kidnapping women all over the country, possibly forcing them into prostitution and slavery. It's up to Cross and his new team of agents to find these women before it's too late. Wolf contains all of Patterson's trademark twists and turns, and the last 50 pages are simply mind blowing. Never before have 400 pages flown by so quickly. He delivers yet another cliffhanger ending, leaving readers waiting in suspense until next November when the next book in the series will be released. Definitely worth your time and money.
Rating:
Summary: (4+) Will the FBI Change Alex Cross ?
Review: The long awaited next book in James Patterson's Alex Cross series is back with Alex now beginning his FBI career after being recruited by the new director Ron Burns. Readers of the series know that Alex has decided it is time to leave the Washington PD and continue his career elsewhere. Despite Alex's trepidations about bureaucracy within "The Bureau", Burns has convinced Alex that his police instincts and profiling skills would be incredibly useful as Burns tries to achieve the seemingly impossible task of eliminating both the bureaucrats and cowboys from the FBI's ranks. This is typical James Patterson, mostly two to four page chapters, a rapidly developing plot, minimal character development, and a clever villain with a violent streak. In juxtaposition is the pull of Alex's family, Little Alex, Jannie, Damon and Nana Mama as well as his long distance relationship with Jamilla Hughes. While Alex is involved in his FBI intake orientation and training, a series of widely scattered and very unusual unsolved abductions cause Director Burns to involve Alex in the case, creating enmity within the ranks (including from Alex's superior) due to the special treatment that he receives. There are no ransom demands, and Alex and his associates believe that the victims are being sold and traded as part of a white slave ring operated by wealthy individuals with bizarre and illegal inclinations. When two particularly high profile kidnappings catch the attention of the media, pressure increases on the FBI to solve the case and (not unexpectedly) a few clues create the suspicion that a shadowy figure (THE WOLF) whose existence has never been verified by the FBI is at the center of this kidnapping ring. He is reputed to be a former KGB agent who now is head of the Red Mafiya in the US, but there have been no clues to his identity or location. A few breaks create momentum that eventually makes Alex optimistic that they are on the trail of THE BIG BAD WOLF, but of course you know the villain will create several instances of misdirection and layers of reality for his pursuers to fight through. Meanwhile, Alex's personal world is rocked by the reappearance of Christine Johnson (Little Alex's mother) in DC and her desire to become a part of her child's life despite her (temporary and understandable) abandonment of him given the turmoil that a previous case of Alex's had caused in her life. This is a fastmoving, intricately plotted very fast read - you would be surprised at anything else in an Alex Cross story. And you have the "pleasure" of seeing Kyle Craig continue to play a (very peripheral ) role in Alex's life. The background element regarding the need to reform the FBI echoes the daily headlines and rings true. While the thread regarding Christine is interesting, there is much less involvement of Alex's family than in several of the other books. There is a great degree of violence, including the sexual incidents which are an integral part of the story, but in most cases the descriptions are very brief, and in only a few cases is there nauseous detail. Besides the obvious pursuit of the WOLF and the discovery of his real identity, the biggest mystery that the reader faces is whether this is a self contained story or whether it will simply be the first installment of several stories regarding the necessity of unraveling the several layers of the WOLF's identity. (You won't find out until the last ten pages.) And at the same time it is not clear whether Alex's complex relationships with Jamilla and Christine will be resolved. The factors that kept this from attaining a five star rating were the even more than usual number of loose ends to the story and the complete lack of any character development at all. I was especially disappointed at the minor role of Lili Olsen, a fourteen and a half year old ("going on twenty-four") computer genius whose abilities to hack into web sites help Alex despite the skepticism of his associates. She seemed a wonderful character with a lot of potential, but with the exception of one memorable line she simply disappeared as the story plunged forward. So when you want a quick read for a short flight or a rainy day, you will enjoy this if the Patterson formula appeals to you. But don't expect much detail, and be ready to suspend your belief about the plausibility of many of the events. Certainly not his best, but much more enjoyable than many for me because of the lack of gruesome detail contained in some of his other books. Tucker Andersen
Rating:
Summary: Not Just Pigs, Peter or Girls With Red Hoods Should beScared
Review: Alex Cross is back, this time working for the FBI. A Russian organised crime lord who calls himself The Wolf is fast making a name for himself. Attractive women as well as a few men are being kidnapped and sold as bedroom slaves to those with enough money. Some are showing up murdered after their masters have had their fun. Alex is still in FBI training but is asked to take a major hand in the investigation much to the disgust of some of his superiors in the FBI. Meanwhile Christine is back and she wants her baby (little Alex). This is not the greatest Alex Cross novel, but fans of the series probably will not be too disappointed. It is a worthwhile read, and a lot better than most other authors work. You don't get deep enough into The Wolf's mind as you did with the Weasel, Mastermind and other villains from previous novels for my liking but he is still a character I would not want to encounter in real life. This is not a bad read but I would read some former titles in the Alex Cross series if you have not done so first before this one.
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